SAN BERNARDINO – Lawyers delivered closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of a 36-year-old man accused of molesting four young girls, some of them under the fear of being beaten with a belt, during a five-plus-year period in his home.

Cesar Shanne Campos of San Bernardino sat next to his lawyer during the proceedings in San Bernardino Superior Court and watched as prosecutors detailed his alleged crimes against the girls to jurors.

“It’s time the defendant is told what he did to every one of those girls is wrong,” Deputy District Attorney Maryanne Choi said in her closing arguments.

The sexual abuse began with the first girl when she was only 5 years old and continued until she was 12, prosecutors said. Two others were abused between the ages of 9 and 11, while a fourth girl was the friend of the first girl.

The Sun does not name victims of alleged sexual abuse.

Three of the girls were the daughters of women who had been in relationships with Campos, authorities said. Choi told jurors the defendant started abusing the first girl in 2001 and then progressively continued the abuse.

“It started out with touching. Having her touch him,” Choi said, adding that Campos even instructed the girl what to do. “She indicated as she got older, the defendant’s behavior became even worse.”

Campos even boldly molested the girl while her mother was present at the location, checking to ensure he wouldn’t get caught, the prosecutor said. He would also beg the girl to bring her friends, and when she refused, Campos would beat her, the prosecutor said.

“She was scared. She was scared about the sexual abuse,” Choi said. “She was scared about being beaten for seven years by this man.”

Campos kept a gun in the room where he abused victims, authorities said. Choi told the jury about the alleged victims’ “constant fear” and their feelings of having nowhere to go for help.

When police arrived at Campos’ residence after the allegations were reported, he ran from officers into the house, according to prosecutors.

“That shows his consciousness of guilt,” Choi said.

Unlike other criminal cases, the jury can convict Campos of the charges based solely on the testimony of the alleged victims, according to prosecutors.

Orange County defense lawyer Kenneth Schreiber told the jury of nine men and three women that the case was awful and difficult. He reminded them that to find Campos guilty, they had to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt.

Schreiber spent much of his time focused on the “quality and believability” of testimony and what he described as a lack of evidence corroborating the girls’ allegations.

“You need to focus on the fact that all you have is children’s testimony,” Schreiber said.

He argued that the alleged victims left out details, were not completely truthful, and in one case, didn’t refer to genital areas properly.

The defense also questioned why some of the alleged victims didn’t tell parents or anyone what happened to them for years.

“I submit you can’t convict this defendant based on that kind of evidence,” said the defense lawyer.

Campos is charged with three counts of committing a forcible lewd act on a child, and one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child, committing a lewd act on a child, and aggravated sexual assault of a child – oral copulation.

Prosecutors also added a special allegation for multiple victims. If convicted, Campos faces at least an estimated 100 years in state prison.

Both Choi and Schreiber declined to comment later, citing the ongoing court proceedings.